O’Brien Weighing Up Options With Shamrocker

Danny O’Brien says he will have a better idea of the spring path he should follow with his classic winner Shamrocker after the Australian Derby winner resumes in the $A200,000 Memsie Stakes at Caulfield on Saturday.

The Melbourne trainer is wavering between the Caulfield Cup on October 15 or the W.S. Cox Plate on October 22 as the O’Reilly mare’s lead-up to the Melbourne Cup at Flemington on November 1.

His intention is to give the four-year-old only four starts before the cup and he is also eager to see how she performs under weight-for-age conditions. “We’ll see how she stacks up in the weight-for-age races,” O’Brien said. “She will have only four runs before the Melbourne Cup.”

O’Brien plans to follow the Memsie with starts in the Underwood Stakes (1800m) at Caulfield on September 17 and Caulfield Stakes (2000m) on October 8.

Shamrocker, in line to be among the winners at the Horse of the Year awards after her Group One autumn double in the Australian Guineas and AJC Derby, will be ridden by Mark Zahra in the Memsie with her regular jockey Glen Boss required in Sydney to ride Smart Missile at Rosehill. O’Brien has given Shamrocker a trial at Flemington and also took her to Moonee Valley last week for a first gallop on the Cox Plate course.

Source: Racing And Sports